Registration & Deposit Due August 31, 2019

Full Payment Due October 15, 2019

10 spots only

Call or email Allison with questions

ombluesky@gmail.com

919 929 8961

Jan 20: Arrive Madurai; you might arrange your round trip ticket to Chennai, Mumbai, or Delhi and then get a domestic flight to Madurai. We’ll visit Meekakshi Goddess Temple, one of the most powerful and famous goddess temples in all of India.

Jan 21-27: Go to Kodaikanal for a retreat in the clouds, the property has a shrine by a waterfall to the Seven Sisters, Krittika Nakshatra. It’s a peaceful and serene landscape, a delightfully quiet pear orchard up in the clouds with little cottages and wood burning stoves, and a fantastic cook named Kali who will be taking care of us during our stay. The emphasis will be on quiet convening in nature, meditation, chanting, and diving into astrology in a relaxed way. And, as a side note, Saturn changes sign, from Sagittarius to Capricorn during our stay, so it’s a very auspicious time to be slowing down and diving into your Self.

Jan 27: Go to Trichy, on the way see Palani Temple, a famous Mars Temple, and make it to Trichy to see Srirangam, perhaps the most famous Vishnu Temple in all of India, and the place where Ramanuja’s samadhi resides.

Jan 28-Feb 3: Go to Vaitheshvarar, on the way see the Purva Bhadrapada Nakshatra Temple and the Samadhi of Tyagaraja, a famous South Indian Musician and Composer. In Vaitheshvarar we’ll visit all the Planetary Temples in addition to a few Nakshatra Temples like Ashvini and Anuradha. This is also where you’ll each go for your Nadi Astrology reading.

Feb 3: Head to Chennai which is where you will fly out from on Feb 4. On the way we’ll visit Chidambaram, the brilliant Ether Temple and Ardra Nakshatra Temple, and The Madras Crocodile Bank where it’s possible we can sit with founder Rom Whitaker and ask our questions about his life’s work; this of course depends on his schedule and availability.

Feb 4: Depart from Chennai or choose to solo adventure on your own.

Week 1 – Retreat

On a serene pear orchard in the mountains of Tamil Nadu; includes a personal reading with Allison on the farm and lots of time for stories and satsang and wandering about through the fields and in the mountains nearby.

The schedule each day will look something like this:

7:00 – personal asana practice

7:30 – group silent meditation

8:00 – tea and breakfast

9:30 – kirtan and planetary stories

11:00 – solo time or your session with Allison

12:30 – lunch

2:00 – astrological current events

3:30 – solo time or your session with Allison

6:30 – dinner

8:00 – meditation, kirtan, and planetary stories by the fire

Week 2 – Pilgrimage

Nadi Astrology Palm Leaf readings and Navagraha Temples.

After our week in the clouds we’ll make the journey to Vaitheshvarar, where the Nadi Palm Leaf Scrolls reside.

This week will include a visit to each of the planetary temples in addition to a Nadi Palm Leaf Astrology reading.

Sages meditated and received information about beings that had yet to be born but would be seeking Indian wisdom and guidance in the future. These sages recorded what they heard by writing it on palm leafs.

I went to find mine last year and was shocked by some of what was revealed. I also had a healthy dose of skepticism and easily heard the important pieces and let the rest go. It’s not intended to be heard as 100% true. Once you’ve registered, I’ll coach you through questions you might like to ask the astrologer and help you get clear about what specific information they have access to, as well as what sort of information would be beneficial for you.

It’s important that you know how to hold astrological information; loosely. If you tend to hold things too tight, or overseek, or hear astrological information too literally this will potentially be a very difficult and confusing experience for you. You’ll need to be well established in holding what you hear loosely, receiving what resonates, and letting the rest go.

I intend to travel with my portable harmonium so we can have a daily kirtan, but there will not be dedicated time for asana or meditation practice. You’ll need to fit that into the in-between spaces of the day. The schedule will essentially be broken into two parts of each day, morning and evening. During one part of the day we’ll visit a few temples and during the other part of the day I’ll be taking a few of you to see if they can find your palm leaf scroll.

“There is nothing that could have really prepared me for the temple tour! I studied religion and spirituality in college, I’ve practiced yoga for 8 years, and I had been to India once before – and this trip to South India temples moved my spirit, grew my heart, and expanded everything I once knew about devotion, about god, and about the reverence of being alive. There are no words to describe being a part of a sea of people moving just for a glimpse of God at the temple. There are few words to describe how loud devotion really is when it’s experienced – how unafraid, how direct, how beautiful, how reassuring, how welcoming.

If you want to grow your heart, seep yourself in the beauty that is lived devotion, take your most prized adventure yet, and try eating with your hands for two weeks, go to India with Allison! And let your life, and the song of your heart, be taken up a notch.” – Katie Breen